Braum's Refreshes its Walls

In-House printing creates delicious P-O-P results

April 28, 2009

Big Picture

When Braum's Ice Cream sought to add more Fresh Market stores to its already hefty roster – which includes 285 stores across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Kansas – a novel look for the newly added units was required. Lucky for Braum's, this only meant putting in a call to its long-time in-house printing facility run by Rick Stafford.

To add a little colorful flavor to the walls of about 20 new Braum's stores, Stafford and crew was tasked with adding two wall graphics per store, one for each dining room and one for each package area.

For the wall-graphics artwork, Stafford supplemented existing photos (which had been sourced from freelance photographers) with new ice-cream images he captured with a Nikon D2X digital SLR. From there, graphics were designed and finalized using Adobe PhotoShop.

The shop's 60-inch HP Designjet Z6100 printer and HP Vivera inks were used for output. Stafford printed 20 graphics total, 450 square feet of graphics per store, onto 11-mil LexJet WallPro, an inkjet-receptive commercial-grade wallpaper that can be applied with standard wallpaper paste. Total print time was two hours per store.

The graphics were then finished with GBC AccuShield overlaminate, using a GBC Talon 64 laminator. "In some cases, we get food splatter on the walls in the dining room," says Stafford, "and the overlaminate makes it easier to clean the wall without damaging the wallpaper."

Because separate contractors were hired to construct the stores throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, a variety of wallpaper hangers were subcontracted to install the graphics. Braum's in-house print shop began its output for the new stores 20 stores late in 2008 and will continue through the end of this year. As this is written, seven stores' wall wraps have been completed.

Braum's Ice Cream Co.'s in-house print shop has been operating since 1991 and currently employs five. "Mr. Braum likes the flexibility to be able to have last-second projects," says Stafford. "And he feels he can get the job done more quickly than using an outside print shop. We contract out very little work."

In addition to its Designjet Z6100, the shop also uses a DisplayMaker 72UVR as well as an AWT Screen Press. Much of the shop's work includes printing for Braum's Ice Cream and Fresh Market store P-O-P displays.